Oscar
by StormWolf10
Summary: AU. Fifth in the HavenVerse. In which Oscar Theodore Smith reveals his side of the events from Safe Haven (chapter 12) through to Tokens.


**A/N: Oscar's take on events. 5th in the series.**

Oscar may be 10, but he isn't stupid. He knows that they were followed home from school that afternoon, knows that it had something to do with Rose. He'd seen it in her eyes. She'd said it was nothing, but he doesn't believe it. He knows that Olivia and Felix didn't notice, that Rose isn't going to make any effort to tell his Dad that she's being watched, and he knows that, unless he says something, things are going to get very bad.

He still doesn't completely understand why Rose won't tell his Dad, why she won't ask for help. He doesn't know why she's being followed, or who by, but Oscar doesn't like the bad feeling it gives him. He's waited, until Rose has been distracted by Livvy and Felix, and Dad is alone in the kitchen. Taking a deep breath, Oscar steps into the room.

"Dad," he begins warily, watching as his Dad looks up in confusion. "I think we were followed home from school today."

"Who by?"

His Dad's answer is quick and abrupt, brow furrowed in concern. Oscar shrugs.

"Not sure," he admits quietly. "I asked Rose why they were following us, but she said she doesn't know."

He watches then, as his Dad's jaw clenches, as he stares at a point on the wall above Oscar's head, and slowly nods.

"Right," his Dad replies slowly. "Well, let me know if it happens again, yeah?"

Oscar nods.

**~StormWolf10~**

A few days later, their Dad is dropping them off at Jack's, hugging them goodbye with a strained smile, and telling them to be good. They say it's a sleepover, but Oscar knows something is going on, and he can tell by the look on Alex's face that he's suspicious too. But there's no more time to question it, because their Dad's leaving, waving as he heads towards the pavement. Oscar sees that, when his Dad thinks he's out of sight, his smile drops and his face becomes marred with worry.

Barely an hour later, they're being bundled out of the door by Jack, and dragged round to Rory and Amy's house. It's a play date, Jack says, but Amy's looking worried and Rory's looking uncertain, and Jack looks like whether he doesn't know whether to yell or cry.

Jack leaves them there, and the vicar follows him not long later. When they return, Mickey's with them too, and they talk to Amy quietly in the kitchen, unaware that Oscar's watching them through a gap in the door. She gasps, shakes her head, covers her mouth. Oscar decides then that it's best to leave the adults to it.

They speak to them separately, Alex first, and Oscar watches as his older brother storms from the Williams' sitting room in tears, past the kitchen where Oscar and Livvy and Felix are, and out into the garden. Then Jack's at the kitchen doorway, a strained smile on his face as he asks Oscar if they can speak to him. Wide-eyed, Oscar nods, taking a deep breath before following Jack.

It's Rory who speaks first, his voice calm and gentle, telling Oscar that his Dad and Rose were in an accident, back at the house. That Rose's ex-boyfriend had come down to London, to hurt her.

"Why?" Oscar asks, tears already welling in her eyes. "Why would anyone want to hurt Rose?"

The three men share a look then, and Oscar can tell they're hiding something from him. He can't help the bitter thought that Alex probably got to hear anything. Just because he's a little bit older…

"You don't need to know why," Jack announces after a few moments of silence. "All you need to know is that Jimmy's being dealt with, and his friends."

"And Rose and Dad?" Oscar asks, and it doesn't escape him or the three adults that he asks about Rose first.

"Your Dad's most likely going to have a scar on his neck," Rory pipes up cautiously, "and some bruising which will go down in time. Jimmy attempted to strangle him, and held a blade to his neck."

"And Rose?" Oscar repeats, growing annoyed.

Again, the three men share a look. Oscar huffs in annoyance.

"Rose's injuries are…. Are more serious," Mickey admits after a while. "She's going to need surgery, and she'll have scars."

Oscar watches the men carefully. He's still not being told everything, and he hates it.

**~StormWolf10~**

When they go back to Jack's, Oscar wants to speak to Alex, see if he knows any more than the adults told him. But almost immediately, Alex is off upstairs without a second word. He doesn't come down for the rest of the night.

Oscar is stuck downstairs with Livvy and Felix, both of them in tears and asking for their Dad, while Jack orders takeout and attempts to cheer them up with Disney films. It doesn't work, and Oscar just finds himself growing more annoyed with the adults, every single one of them, for treating him like a little kid.

That night, Oscar lies in the darkness, listening to Felix and Olivia's muffled sobs, to Alex's quiet sniffs every now and then, and he decides that he hates the world.

He hates everyone.

He hates Mickey and Jack and Rory for not telling him the truth, for hiding things and not telling him about Rose's injuries.

He hates his Dad for not even phoning, for not even a text to let them know he's ok.

He hates Alex, for being older, and for knowing more about what happened than him.

He hates Livvy and Felix for being young enough that they aren't lying awake worrying that Jimmy Stone hurt Rose in more… Intimate ways than the adults are letting on. He hates them for being innocent and naive to the fact that Jimmy Stone could physically abuse Rose in more than one way.

He hates Amy Williams for forcing them to colour and play while the adults spoke to Alex, knowing full well what had happened.

He hates Martha, inexplicably, for being at work rather than with Mickey when Rose and his Dad were hurt. If she'd been with them, maybe things wouldn't have been so bad.

He hates Jimmy Stone and his friends for hurting Rose, and his Dad, and for stalking Rose and making her life a misery.

He even hates Rose, for getting hurt, even though he knows it isn't her fault. He hates her for the possibility she may die, that she may leave them…

And above all, Oscar realises, hot tears spilling down his cheeks, he hates his Mum. Hates her for leaving them, so suddenly and unexpectedly. Hates her for being hit by that car, for dying without saying goodbye, for leaving them alone. For making his Dad cry, and for the sympathetic looks they'd gotten every time they'd left the house.

He hates everyone.

**~StormWolf10~**

Their Dad comes to see them the next day, and Oscar hurls himself at him, already feeling guilty for hating him so much the night before. Just as Mickey and Jack and Rory had warned, there are bruises on John's neck, and a cut where Oscar instinctively knows the blade was held against his throat. They all cry, all five of them (including Alex, and Oscar finds a strange sort of comfort in this), and Jack gives them time alone as they pile onto his sofa and commandeer his sitting room.

"I need you four to be really brave and stay here with Jack just a little longer, ok?" John asks then, his cheeks damp with tears as he watches them carefully.

As one, they all make to protest, but they are silenced quickly by their Dad.

"No, listen," John interrupts quickly. "It won't be for long, and we've got nowhere else to go." He pauses, takes a deep breath. "We can't go back to the house, not while the Police are there, and I'm not sure whether you four will be comfortable there at all after what's happened."

"But where will you go?" Oscar asks, unable to stop himself.

"I'll sleep on Jack's sofa for now," John tells them calmly. "And we'll have to look for somewhere temporary to rent until we can find somewhere else."

**~StormWolf10~**

Oscar creeps down the stairs in the dark, careful not to wake anyone. He needs to talk to his Dad, but the last thing he wants to do is wake the others, or Jack. When he reaches the sitting room, he crosses to the sofa and shakes his Dad's shoulder.

"Dad?"

He hears his Dad yawn, and senses him sitting up.

"Oscar?" John yawns. "What's the matter? Can't sleep?"

"No, it's not that, Dad," Oscar responds, already shaking his head. "I… I need to talk to you. About Rose."

John hauls himself off the sofa then, and stumbles across the floor until he finds the light switch, and then pads across the carpet and sits down.

"What was it you wanted to talk about?" John asks as he tugs Oscar to sit beside him.

Oscar gets straight down to business.

"Will Rose be alright?"

"Given time, yes," John replies steadily with a nod. "She's had to have surgery, and she's often still in a lot of pain. But soon I'll be able to take you and the others to see her."

"What _were_ her injuries?" Oscar asks, determined to find out.

His Dad gives him a calculated look, trying to gage whether or not Oscar's old enough to hear what he has to say. Finally, he gives in.

Half an hour later, John's sending Oscar back to bed, having told him all about Rose's perforated stomach, her damaged ribs and broken collarbone, the cuts on her arms and the IV tubes and heart monitor. The next day, armed with the information his Dad had given him the night before, Oscar does something stupid. He sits at Alex's laptop and researches all of Rose's injuries.

**~StormWolf10~**

Seeing Rose in hospital isn't nearly as bad as what Oscar has envisioned. The tubes don't look nearly as scary as the internet had led him to believe, and most of her injuries are bandaged and hidden from view. She looks tired though, and a glance at Alex tells Oscar that his brother has noticed it too. He lets Livvy and Felix lead the conversation, choosing to watch as Rose smiles tiredly at the stories, thanks the children for the drawings they've brought her, and stifles a yawn when she begins to get weary.

"And you, Oscar?" Rose asks suddenly, voice weary.

Oscar blinks, and looks at her.

"What've you been up to?" Rose prompts with a tired smile.

Oscar shrugs, knowing he shouldn't say about researching her injuries on the internet.

"Not much," he responds after a while. "I've missed you, though."

**~StormWolf10~**

When the gift bags start, Oscar begins writing little notes. Sometimes things about what he's done during the day, or funny things Livvy and Felix have said, and sometimes things that they can do once Rose is out of hospital.

It's not much, or so Oscar thinks, but whenever he sees Rose, she makes a point of thanking him for the notes, smiling and giving him a one-armed hug.

**~StormWolf10~**

Rose gets discharged months later, and they move out of Gallifrey. Truthfully, Oscar expects it. The new house is nice enough, and it's not too far from Gallifrey so it's not like they won't see their friends anymore.

Alex looks a little unconvinced, as they stand outside the new house, but Oscar turns his attention to Rose instead, watching her laughing and chasing Livvy about even as Felix clings to their Dad's leg. It might take a while, Oscar decides logically, but they're going to make this their home.


End file.
